Not more than 3000 pilgrims were seen on the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam for the last several days. This might further go down due to lockdowns being imposed across the country in the majority of the states.
With most of the South Indian states in lockdown, the number of pilgrims coming to the TTD has drastically come down. There are no people who are climbing onto the TTD from the Alipiri side.
It is almost deserted and this is the first time in History that TTD is looking deserted. with very few pilgrims. Around 50000 to 60000 pilgrims have the Lord’s darshan on daily basis. Now it has come down to just 3to 4000 people.
Though TTD suspended “Sarva Darshanam” (free darshan of the deity) for pilgrims with effect from April 12 in view of the surge in Covid-19 cases, it has been allowing darshan for pilgrims who purchase “special darshan tickets” for Rs300 each.
Last year, TTD, for the first time ever, shut down the Tirumala temple for pilgrims due to an outbreak of Covid-19. The shutdown of the temple which began on March 19, 2020, continued up to June 8.
The daily rituals for the presiding deity, however, continued with a limited number of priests. The temple reopened for pilgrims on June 9.
From June last year, TTD restricted the number of pilgrims visiting the temple for free darshan because of stringent Covid-19 restrictions. Initially, it used to issue only 3,000-4,000 Sarva Darshanam tokens every day, as against the average footfall of 65,000-70,000 pilgrims a day before the pandemic.
